Some authors give away the first book of their series, hoping to entice the reader to purchase the rest. But it rarely happens. Readers just move on and read one of the thousands of books that are given away for free. Other authors are hoping that if the readers get the book for free, they will write a positive review about the book. The truth is, only about 2-3% of readers write reviews on free books. It is more likely that readers will write an honest review on the book they paid for.
We would like to show readers what they don't see or think about, what the authors and a team of editors, book cover artists, book interior designers and illustrators are going through producing a book. The sleepless nights when the author is agonizing over lines that just don’t sound right, writing six pages and deleting three, and editing, and editing again, and again. Readers don't see the editor going over every single word and correcting what they think doesn't seem perfectly written. The cover artist working for hours or days creating sketches after sketches until the cover looks artistic and perfect. The book formatter goes through every page to make the book acceptable to publishing sites and makes the interior look aesthetically pleasing. And, this is just the easy part! After the book is published comes the hard part, to let the readers know that the book is published.
We’re asking the readers to support the authors and the team of editors and artists who dedicate days, months, and even years to write and to produce a book. Without the support of readers who are willing to pay a reasonable price for the books they enjoy, the indie writing community will slowly disappear and the wonderful stories will never be written.
Read quotes by authors and readers on the following pages and click on the book covers to visit the authors' websites and pages.
Thank you so much for your support and hopefully you will find a few books in the magazine to add to your reading list.
Happy reading!
Erika M Szabo, author, publishing coach, and illustrator at
Golden Box Books Publishing